Caleb Hanie’s rally not enough to carry Bears past Packers

Monday

Jan 24, 2011 at 12:01 AMJan 24, 2011 at 8:47 AM

CHICAGO — In the biggest game of the season — even the biggest of the century in some Bears’ and Packers’ fans minds — it all came down to a third-string quarterback for Chicago. And he almost shocked everyone.

Jay Taft

CHICAGO — In the biggest game of the season — even the biggest of the century in some Bears’ and Packers’ fans minds — it all came down to a third-string quarterback for Chicago.
And he almost shocked everyone.

Chicago’s starting QB Jay Cutler couldn’t do it. Backup Todd Collins fared even worse. And although third-stringer Caleb Hanie brought the Bears’ offense back to life, he fell just short as well.

Instead, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the Packers are headed to the Super Bowl, and they earned it by eliminating their archrival Bears 21-14 in Sunday’s NFC championship game at Soldier Field.

But they didn’t get to celebrate until a last-minute interception.

“You dream about it and you try to envision what would happen if you have to go in the game,” Hanie said. “You don’t expect to come in and play on a day like this – especially the NFC championship game – but that’s just how it goes sometimes. That’s football.”

Rodgers ran for a first-quarter score and took advantage of short field to lead Green Bay to a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Packers’ defense slowed the Bears throughout before a fourth-quarter interception returned for a TD by B.J. Raji gave them the cushion they needed.

However, the day didn’t end without a little excitement; and most of it was provided by Hanie, who had thrown all of seven passes the entire season.

“As the third quarterback, you don’t get a lot of reps, but he stayed in the game mentally and really felt like he belonged there,” Bears Coach Lovie Smith said of Hanie, who finished 13-for-20 for 153 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. “We had an opportunity there at the end to tie the game, and that was down to Caleb leading us.”

The third-year reserve out of Colorado State came in and drove the Bears to their first score on his first drive early in the fourth quarter, and he had the home team in position to tie the game late before getting picked off by Tramon Williams with 37 seconds left.

“You know I was surprised he played so well,” Packers safety Charlie Peprah said. “He came in and didn’t seem too rattled. But in the end, we got the best of them, and on to Dallas we go.”

Cutler injured his knee on the Bears’ last series of the first half, and though the extent of the injury was not known – he has an MRI scheduled for today – it was enough to force him out of the game after the first series of the second half.

He had no luck while running the offense anyway, completing 6 of 14 passes for 80 yards with an interception, two sacks and a 31.8 passer rating.

“I knew it was probably better that I didn’t (go back in),” Cutler said. “And we knew that if we gave (Hanie) a shot, he’d play well … I was proud of him.”

Hanie hit a cutting Johnny Knox for a 32-yard strike that put the ball on the Packers’ 1 early in the fourth, and Chester Taylor plowed in to cut the margin to 14-7.

Then, after Raji’s interception boosted the Packers’ lead back to 14, Hanie went 3-for-3 on a quick-strike drive that ended with a 35-yard TD pass to Earl Bennett with 4:43 left in the game.

Chicago’s defense held on the next possession, and Hanie trotted back out for one more shot at getting the Bears to the Super Bowl.

“I never felt like we were out of it,” Hanie said. “We just fight, fight and fight some more. Even if we’re down, or people don’t believe in us, or we may not have a good game offensively, we always try to bounce back and fight.”

They fought back on Sunday. But in the end, Green Bay had the knockout punch.

Bears reporter Jay Taft can be reached at 815-987-1384 or jtaft@rrstar.com.